In Germany, responsibility for early childhood education and care (ECEC) lies with the 16 federal states, which define the structures, financing and regulations concerning ECEC. Due to a subsidiary system, municipalities are not able to offer ECEC as long as private providers offer enough places. These providers employ a large variety of…

The German school system is known for its stratified secondary school system following the four-year elementary school. While access to grammar schools was strictly regulated in German school history, most federal states have now strengthened the will of parents and abolished the tradition of binding elementary school recommendations. New in the…

Social policies can be well-intentioned but ineffective in achieving what is intended. They can be undermined or destroyed by their exaggerated or oversimplified caricatures with a single, narrow focus. Caricatures may result in the opposite of the original intent of more carefully crafted variants. Institutionalization and deinstitutionalization…

In Germany, penalties such as fines or police action are imposed for noncompliance with compulsory schooling. However, formal administrative procedures are often deemed inadequate by experts who advocate for school-wide multidimensional support in addressing school absenteeism. We analyze guidance documents of different federal states, examining…

The staff shortages in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector in Germany are an important issue. They impact centres that are forced to close earlier, shut down entire groups or are unable to open at all due to the lack of pedagogical staff. However, the federal states have been making efforts to address this problem. This article…

It is now 10 years since the "European Declaration on the Health of Children and Young People with Intellectual Disabilities and their Families: Better Health -- Better Lives" was adopted by the World Health Organization. Through discussions with key informants and an online literature review, we reflect on actions and progress made in…

This contribution takes a critical perspective on digital school performance platforms (SPP), which today play a key role in US state education monitoring and accountability. Using examples from two different US state education agencies, I provide an analytical disentanglement of some key dimensions of such platforms' enactment and materiality. I…

This article explores the niche occupied by transnational English teachers within the context of Korean ELT. Employing intersectionality theory as an analytic framework, the study examines the lived experiences of Leo (pseudonym), a German national who taught English in Korea circumventing legal restrictions against non-native English-speaking…

Germany's education system is continually evolving and advancing, especially within special education. The country's history and the laws that have been implemented significantly shape special education as we know it today, yet unresolved issues persist in this field. One notable challenge is the divide between mainstream and special education,…

In 2019, German folk high schools -- "Volkshochschulen" (vhs) -- celebrated the centenary of their inclusion in the Constitution of the Weimar Republic in 1919, an era when they founded local centres in many parts of the country. Ever since, they have played an important part in the adult learning and education (ALE) sub-sector of the…

Skills-based education can provide a way forward to sustainable development in a developing country. It is a hopeful scenario that more than 60% of the population of Pakistan is less than 30 years of age and almost half of them are under 15 years of age. It is important for the policymakers and planners to learn from the societies where human…

The goal this article is to describe the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, compare the situation in the United States (U.S.) to that of similar countries, and analyze the actions taken by the U.S. government. The authors chose to compare the U.S. to Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany as these countries are similar to the U.S. in their…

Universities have increasingly been subjected to policy- and industry demands to produce multi- and interdisciplinary knowledge. This paper explores the extent to which different higher education policy instruments are used to promote interdisciplinarity in teaching and research at universities in the German higher education system comparing them…

Embracing an inclusive mindset within museums is necessary to further accessibility and transform the role of museums in a changing society to more effectively foster diversity. A brief overview of the history of laws related to people with disabilities and the role of centralized museum associations sets accessibility as a concept within cultural…

In this chapter, we focus on the German integration course for migrants, the number of which increased rapidly beginning in 2015. The courses are mandated by the German Immigration Act and represent a relatively well-financed and professional course programme within the national adult education system. The main challenges between 2015 and 2018…